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Jo Cox and GoFundMe.

by Anna Raccoon on June 22, 2016

Colour Ms Raccoon totally confused.

Even as we are exhorted not to discuss the ‘whys and wherefores’ of her murder, and in particular, not to ascribe our own beliefs to the possible motivation of Thomas Mair – whose trial starts today, so please Raccoonteurs, no discussion of his motives or beliefs – but even as we are so exhorted, her husband tells us categorically ‘why she was killed’.

Mr Cox said that his wife was a politician with strong views. “I believe she was killed because of those views,” he said. “I think she died because of them and she would want to stand up for those in death as much as she did in life.”

So much does he believe that she would want to stand up for those beliefs ‘in death’ as in life, that he has set up a GoFundMe page to collect donations ‘in memory of Jo’. There is nothing wrong with that – it is a time honoured tradition to give money, particularly where two children have been left without a Mother; there will be many who have had those two children in mind as they reached for their purses.

Reach for their purses the generous British public have – £1,240,812 as I write this. Since the GoFundMe page makes no mention of the children, it is reasonable to ask which of the ‘political views’ alleged to have killed Jo, might be benefiting from this munificent sum. Three organisation are pledged half a million each, with any surplus going to unnamed charities.

The first named charity, The Royal Volunteer Service, undeniably reflects the better side of charitable organisation. 35,000 selfless volunteers, doing the sort of work in the community that people associate with charities. You do have to plough deep into their accounts to find that 1,534 individuals shared £21,444,000 of their revenue in salaries since they weren’t ‘volunteering’. So be it. Salaries of £150,000 plus a year are scarcely unknown in the charitable sector.

‘HOPE not hate seeks to challenge and defeat the politics of hate and extremism within local communities, building resilience against the politics of hate and fear, at a national and grassroots level’.

They were formed in 2004 in response to ‘the rise of the BNP’. That sounds like the sort of thing a left-wing politician would and should be supporting. Personally I think right wing politicians should also be supporting resilience against the ‘politics of hate and fear’.

Edited to add: Oh dear, just had this illuminating post from 2014 sent to me regarding ‘Hope Not Hate’. Worth reading…

I always resent the implication that anyone opening a dialogue as to the numbers of people coming into the country only does so because of their colour or religion. Schools and Hospitals would still be bursting at the seams if the incomers were blued eyed Californians with ripped muscles, a degree in Christian theology, and a pedigree traced back to Alfred the Great – we would still be complaining.

It is the 3rd Charity to which half a million is pledged which has raised eyebrows across the globe. ‘The White Helmets’. A curious name for a Syrian organization. You might expect a name expressed in Syriac script, those squiggles unintelligible to western eyes; or perhaps the equally unpronounceable ‘alkhudhat albayda‘ which would be understood in the arabic speaking world – but no, they have headed straight for the nostalgic English speaking world, reared on a diet of cowboy films where you knew that the White Hats were the good guys.

When you delve into the history of the ‘White Helmets’, life becomes truly bizarre. According to the Guardian:

The White Helmets are an organisation of volunteer search-and-rescue workers in Syria, who have saved more than 51,000 lives in the region.

Which sounds incredibly noble. Apparently they only save lives in rebel held areas of Syria, This, they claim, is because President Assad won’t let them save lives in Government held areas. One wonders why. Could it be because those on the front line may be volunteers, but someone in the organisation is consuming some $23 million dollars a year in US aid? It can’t be the White Helmets leader and founder Raed Salah – he has just been banned from the US as ‘an extremist’.

However the US State Department have made the extraordinary statement that although the White Helmet leader and chief spokesperson to UN and Whitehouse is linked with terrorism, the White Helmet Group is miraculously unaffected. For a truly outstanding example of double-speak, I point you to the US press conference on June 3rd.

You may wonder why even more when you discover that their supposed ‘leader’ the aforesaid Raed Saleh was not the originator of ‘White Helmets.

That was James Le Mesurier who runs an organisation which specialises in training search and rescue teams. Through researching James Le Mesurier we discover that the governments of the UK, Holland, Denmark, Germany, Japan are also throwing their money into the volunteers of White Helmets, who receive $150 a month each – where is the rest of the money going?

You see, for all the money being piled into the White Helmets, Raed Saleh had to make this appeal:

My name is Raed Al Saleh and I am the head of the Syria Civil Defence – also known as the “White Helmets”. We’ve saved 22,693 lives from under the rubble.

Yet I know that we don’t have the money to pay for hospital treatment if one of us is injured. I know if a team member loses their life, we have nothing to give to their family.

Thus was yet another charity fund set up – one specifically to support the volunteer heroes. They currently have $426,790 in the kitty. A meagre enough amount to repay their courage.

So how are we supporting Jo Cox’s ideals by giving money to an organisation that doesn’t even look after its volunteers when they fall by the wayside? Could it be that her death is being used to bring publicity and funds to a political cause?

Perish the thought that the British generosity towards Motherless children is being used to further the cause of regime change in foreign lands.

___________________________

Perchance you could have forgotten by the time you got to the end of this rabbit-hole – please remember:

This is not an opportunity to discuss the motives, beliefs or mental health of Tommy Mair. The man is on trial for murder – let us ensure that he gets a fair trial unsullied by internet gossip about him.

You are free to discuss Syrian politics, charities, and British contributions!

Manipulation, the like of which I can’t recall. No wonder that Save The Children were not on the recipient list from what was rebroadcast in the public domain since her murder. If I lost a soulmate I would be utterly distraught, not organising political campaigns on social media. Cant, seems appropriate.

I agree, I lost my husband in a sudden, shocking accident and I was in a state of shock for months. I couldn’t understand how Mr. Cox could make these statements, no one knows what the reasons for this murder were, indeed we may never know for sure. I am appalled at the way this murder seems to have been politicised, it was tragic for her family. After my husband’s sudden death I could hardly speak, but knowing the way shock can affect you I would cut him some slack, not so some politicians. As for the charities I expect nothing good from most of them while so much money seems to be syphoned off for salaries and I would not contribute to most.

Mr Cox was previously a senior policy advisor for Gordon Brown, he was then moved to Save the Children charity on a six figure sum reporting to another New Labour appointee. All part of Brown’s bid to control the institutions in the Third Sector. He resigned after numerous women complained about his inappropriate behaviour.

Jo Cox’s death was tragic, I have no words more than this. But from the other side of the Atlantic, two things have struck me… her death seems to have been hi-jacked to attack the Brexit campaign and there have been some comments about an attack on democracy, etc. Until the courts untangle Thomas Mair’s motive(s), this is over the top hype.

I see that the conspiracy theorists have already started their nonsense about their “false flags” with photos of what they allege is Jo’s family, laughing and joking after the tragedy. Astonishing that people can be so stupid.

It is possible Mr Ecks – how about pumping someone full of SSRI’s, especially someone with a multiple personality disorder and ‘guiding’ one of those personalities. I am not suggesting this was the case here – just that it is possible to do.

I wasn’t going to mention this in case it contravened the Landlady’s request, but I am questioning the Establishment rather than Mr Mair.

Of course it was a false flag, just like the shooting a day before the Austrian election a month ago when a ‘far right’ gunman opened fire at a concert (three dead, including himself). The ‘far-right’ anti-EU candidate was expected to win, but lost by a whisker to a Green.

The assassination of Mrs Cox was clearly yet another staged event, to rig the referendum. What utter evil. Something like this was obviously going to happen if ‘Brexit’ got ahead in the polls.

You may remember Swedish MP, Anna Lindh, being murdered while shopping three days before their referendum in 2003 on whether to join the Euro (she supported joining). Another coincidence? Killed by a mentally-ill man with a baseball cap?

Naomi Wolf admits (around 38.54) that the US has carried out hoax attacks (“spectacles and events”) and that the US Government has now legalised propagandising US citizens. She says that we live in an era where it is not crazy to assess news events to see if they’re real or not real.

Wake up and smell the coffee. “Conspiracy theory” was invented as a term of abuse to try to discredit those who disbelieved the official narrative of JFK’s assassination.

Great article. Respect to you for setting the terms of the debate so clearly and properly. Sadly missing elsewhere. For what it’s worth, I think we are seeing a resurgence of the Diana effect. Corporate grief, sadly used by a few to push an agenda. I guess in those situations we may not look too critically at what it is we’re actually supporting lest it seem unsympathetic or worse.

The way this tragic event (for her children) has been managed – & by that I mean stage managed – by the political class can only lead those of us outside their airtight bubble to raise our contempt level to Defcon 3

Quite right. Firstly, White Helmets is not a charity. Nor could it be given its remit. Any more than the BNP could be. Both are NGOs with a political aim. GoFundMe means precisely that. Anyone can can make a plea for the readies without scrutiny – while GoFundMe take a cut too as a service commission.

Secondly, the juxtaposition of sentiment and beliefs, while understandable in a man grieving the hideous killing of his wife, were given free uncritical airing by the BBC etc – even though they directly impacted not only on sub judice matters but also a political referendum and were potentially highly misleading in implication.

The possibility that sentimentality should govern a vote regarding membership of the EU is disconcerting enough, but no doubt that is unavoidable in other respects. But where this sentimentality is misrepresented in circumstances where the alleged facts are not capable of discussion for legal reasons, there would appear to be a clear implication of bias in addition to contempt of court.

Absolutely unbelievable. Disgusting. How could her husband do this and how can people be so fooled. I, like millions of others, was very happy to give money that I thought was going to help Jo Cox’s family in some way. Especially the little ones. Some sort of trust fund. I am flabbergasted at the deviousness of this and how my trust and goodwill has been abused.

Sorry, but that was clear from the outset. It’s why I wouldn’t contribute to it as I really don’t know what it will end up actually supporting. But you should have been more thorough in your research

I’m not too bothered with the ‘sentimentality’ issue. You’ve only got to read the other side’s stuff to realise that they haven’t too many qualms about flying that particular flag, some of it being just plain obnoxious

In fairness Ho, I would think that most peoples reaction to hearing that two chidlren have been left motherless is to reach into their pocket – not to read through the nitty gritty on the off-chance that somebody is looking to fund some dodgy outfits in Syria… The appeal is even headed by a picture of ‘girl next door’ in jeans and old jumper, standing by her barge – just an ordinary ‘bargees daughter’. A carefully manicured image that I like to think Jo Cox might have corrected had she been able to…

Ok, it was a bit harsh, but this hostelry’s residents tend to having a reputation for checking if things are as they seem, don’t they?

On a more general point, my first reaction was to be a bit surprised at the husband’s reaction. And then I tried to put myself in his shoes, at a time when my kids were that age. Would I have curled up in a corner and blubbed? Hell, no!

I’d have done everything I could to make sure my kids knew what a great mum they had, someone who believed in what they did, and that they should be proud of her , her heritage, and that she was leaving some legacy for the greater good

Furthermore, there are many men and women who have joint causes who continue those after the other has passed away. I was at a funeral recently of a man whose history will never be general public knowledge, but who had a major impact on the lives of many people, and the eulogies were led by his wife and son, and another son took the service. United in grief, and solid in continuing commitment, however hard that might be to exercise

So I don’t need to agree with the beliefs of Joe Cox and her husband, or even necessarily be sure of his past history, but I sure as dammit wouldn’t condemn him for what he’s done now.

I am only poor little Lottie trying to avoid the ever-present danger of men trying to rape me, but I cannot but observe that Our Brendan’s purple helmet exploits may not be entirely helpful to the cause of the White Helmets…whatever that may be. Allegedly. Do you think Ms Cox’s spouse might have been a sufferer from Daisnaid Syndrome? For those who suffer from Do As I Say Not As I Do, what you see isn’t always what you get. This is all terribly confusing: he wanted to Save Children, but his beloved EU cares not for such trivia. I’m groping for the Truth here, but it seems Brendan was caught groping for a better grasp of things anatomical. Or so four women once said. Enough of this innuendo. Aux barricades mes enfants!

Thanks for that Prog, been bugging me off and on all morning as to where i knew the name from. They used to visit the local carni-fool here when I was kid. Them and the Red Arrows-who still visit…. screaming past in Hawker Siddeley mega death mode (never quite understood why The Bestes Frau In The World and daughter of survivors of the Allied Terror Bombings and Refugee Strafings would want to rush outside to admire them dropping from the heavens stukka like, “Yes Dear, they are incredibly skilled but you *do* realise WHY they practice swooping sooo low, don’t you, dear?”)

I must be well conditioned as Spitfire flights over Parham Park days ago made me go all gooey, even though born in ’43. Low cloud and a fairly lengthy aerobatic display.

Back to the husband first. We’re all different, but having lost a wife I was infatuated with, a dear younger sister and two younger half brothers, I still can’t imagine having such a reaction. I have to conclude it’s more about him than her, but I don’t mean that unkindly.

As to the ‘charity’; many of us here will be involved in charitable activities with little risk to anybody, but enveloped in red tape and insurance company guidance. In the poorer and more dangerous parts of the world, I still find it hard to see that there is a case for special treatment for the volunteers. When you become a victim even if due to voluntary activity, how are you further up the queue that anybody else? Maybe that seems unkind, but volunteering isn’t about earning privileges. Just a view. And I’m not out there.

“This is not an opportunity to discuss the motives, beliefs or mental health of Tommy Mair. The man is on trial for murder – let us ensure that he gets a fair trial unsullied by internet gossip about him. ”

Agree, but there have been so many breaches of the contempt of court rules on social media and elsewhere that the law is being brought into disrepute.

Agreed in this particular instance, but not in general: Rosa Parks, Emily Pankhurst, Thomas Jefferson…

Also of interest: the great and good so wish to honour the Democracy to which this poor girl was committed that Democracy in her constituency is to be suspended: the By-Election will be uncontested and her seat passed on as if part of her estate.

“No, the exploitation of Jo Cox’s death is the darkest episode in Remain’s divisive and cynical campaign.”

I cannot help thinking that, had the rôles been reversed (the deceased a supporter of the British side), the British side would have exploited the matter in a similar way, especially having regard to the despicable nature of MM. Elliott and Cummings, the campaign managers.

Thoroughly agree with Margaret Jervis’s comment on the inappropriate behaviour of Lord Hall-Hall: expected, of course, but still inappropriate.

I was visiting my mother last week-end (annual birthday pilgrimage) and accompanied her to her church as I do when down there. I very nearly stood up to walk out when the visiting vicar used Mrs Cox’s murder as his opening remarks in his sermon on voting in the forth coming referendum. It was only out of respect for my mother than I sat there enduring the most biased piece of political preaching I have ever heard in a church. Luckily I was able to escape thru a side door at the end of the service, I’ve never called a priest out for such blatant lying in my life so far, but I might have been tempted if I had had to greet him on the way out. To see a man of the cloth using his position to abuse the trust put in him by such an elderly congregation was shocking to say the very least.

That’s disgusting, B. Bill. What might Jesus have done? He often ‘called out’ the hierarchs and scribes in the Temple and was famous for speaking not as they spake but with authority.

Not saying you were wrong, by any means: your mother lives in the community; you don’t and, on balance, I think you were right to hold your tongue. But I think that, as an atheist*, I’d have found irresistible the temptation to ram his own doctrine — of which I have fairly good grasp — down his throat.

ΠΞ

* I avoid the unhelpful word ‘agnostic’. Every one of us — from Prof. Dawkins to the most ardent believer — is agnostic in that none of us knows or can know whether there be gods and, if there be, the nature of them. I’m ‘an agnostic’ only in the vulgarly used sense of being prepared to accept the possibility of deity.

For those who thought the initials “JC” referred to our Lord And Saviour -him what taketh away the sins of the world and who loves us all so much he died on the Cross for us, courtesy of Change.porg I give you

I had never heard of Jo Cox before her dreadful murder but looking at her cv I assume she must have had been partly responsible for the stream of “reports” [political lobbying] from Oxfam on trade-related and corporate questions that I had to deal with in my final years in Whitehall.

Like those produced by a predecessor as Oxfam “policy” person, the dreadful Caroline Lucas, they were usually specious (and dishonest) and to my mind incredibly patronising bordering on racist in an underlying assumption that the “dear little things” in developing countries could not work out their own positions and interests on trade policy but needed UK activists to direct them.

This was all part of a continuing general trend for the likes of Oxfam and Save the Children to cut back on activities “on the ground” to fund ever more well paid “policy officers” to churn out lobbying material and further their own personal political ambitions.

Frankly, while allowance should be made for some odd behaviour given the horrible circumstance, I have found Brendan Cox’s activities since the murder eg the rally in Trafalgar Square today pretty distasteful.

I agree with the comments regarding the late Mrs Cox’s husband, if he had genuinely cared he would be devastated but this was possibly a match made in the Labour Party HQ. Will Mr Cox be standing for his late wife’s constituency.

It also makes me ponder on the fragility of life, one day you are on Mr Geldof’s barge sneering at the proletariat and their genuine grievances with the EU and the next you are murdered (transfer of malice) by a different member of the proletariat.

On the subject of sermons I once got up and left a service part way through a sermon, it took me a great effort not to give the two fingered salute as I left.

Given the widely-reported skeletons in his own closet, I suspect it would be a tad imprudent for the apparently-sainted Mr Cox to assume his departed wife’s recently-vacated seat in the House. And anyway, I have reason to believe he’s a bloke – you can bet Batley & Spen will be a discriminatory short-list, as defined by the menstrual militia.

The fisherman have just cause in campaigning against the EU, Farage was just a side show on that one. Also the shipbuilding industry was decimated by the loss of the fishing fleets, the UK yards made small ships. These yards were hit by the change to large carriers and then by the loss of the fishing fleet. This was under-reported, without Geldof’s appalling intervention the protest would have got the publicity it deserved.

Is this interesting or not?http://tapnewswire.com/2016/06/video-analysis-of-jo-cox-incident/ At the moment my flabber is gasted. When I saw the report on the TV I could not understand why the police had pinned a fat tattoo-free bloke to the road. It certainly was not the skinny tattooed bloke called Mair. And I do hope I have not breached the “rules” laid down by the boss. If it is decided that I have I apologise.

I posted the video, above, shortly after you did, without getting this far down the comments due to the idea of a false flag being ridiculed/questioned by others. Like they aren’t so desperate to keep the EU going that they wouldn’t sacrifice one of their own. They create wars that kill millions – what is one woman with ideal loony liberal/socialist credentials to them and I don’t mean disrespect to the dead, just to the elite controllers.

And as I wrote, above, “Conspiracy theory” was invented as a term of abuse to try to discredit those who disbelieved the official narrative of JFK’s assassination.”

Why are you parroting government propaganda? Do you expect to be taken seriously on 9/11 when even some of the 9/11 Commission team walked out in disgust at being prevented from carrying out a proper investigation?

“You do have to plough deep into their accounts to find that 1,534 individuals shared £21,444,000 of their revenue in salaries since they weren’t ‘volunteering’. So be it. Salaries of £150,000 plus a year are scarcely unknown in the charitable sector.”

Anna- I’m not sure what point you’re making there.

Reading quickly through it, I took it that you were being sarcastic about a lot of RVS people being on £150k. But that didn’t seem right, so I reached for my calculator.

£21,444,000 divided by 1,534 = £13,979. Not a pittance, but not troughing either.

Thank you for the information about White Helmets. I was going to donate directly to them, so as to bypass Hope Not Hate, but now I won’t.

Try looking at the section which lists salaries between 50,000 and 60,000, then 60,000 and 100,000, then over 150,000 – deduct those and you will find that those at the bottom of the heap – ie those working diligently in your local hospital selling your daily newspaper etc, are being paid around 7.20 per hour – and not many hours either. If that 21 million WAS being evenly divided amongst the 1500 employees, you would be right – no troughing. It isn’t.

Exactly. Hate Not Hope is a despicable organisation creating hatred and division through disinformation and, I would say, all out lies. I believe it is probably an Establishment front, set up to attract the usual well-heeled leftist luvvies for the purpose of discrediting patriots, what few there seem to be left judging by the latest odds, and subverting society to create their global ‘Utopia’.

Let’s just assume for the sake of a philological question — with due deference to Madame’s request for the observance of the requirements relating to a fair trial, contempt &c. — that some-one known to have killed another (‘caught red-handed’) and accused of murder were acquitted on, say, the ground of insanity or diminished responsibility.

Quite normally and without any intent to prejudge the proceedings the media would have been writing and speaking, before the trial, of ‘the murder of so-and-so’. Would that then be judged to have been wrong? Ought the media then to adopt some other phrase in referring to the death?

I know of no such acknowledgment of a court’s verdict but have noticed that Lord Hall-Hall’s transmitter has at times alluded to ‘Jo Cox’s murder’ but more often used some circumlocution not involving the word ‘murder’.

Not so fast, Moriarty – this is only the first step and, as they say, there’s many a slip twixt cup and lip. Let’s celebrate it by all means, but we’re not free yet – we’ve just done the hardest bit of filling in the application form, it’s a long game and others make the rules.

And since when was handing Politicians almost unbridled power a Good Thing ? No matter which side of the political line one stands on, removing unelected oversight and control from Politicians -of whatever ilk- is akin to handing Teens whisky and car keys. …

I have got to know some of the White Helmets over time and they are 100% genuine.

(See the “execution” clip? I am off camera assisting too…but someone had to stay behind and mind the picnic, those Al Nusra executions are awfully well attended – turn your back for a minute and I SWEAR the lot will be gone. Sometimes I help them make partial children’s bodies with the skulls opened like eggs out of plasticene…each one takes HOURS and a quart of tomato ketchup. You have no idea how much work goes into rounding up people, burying them, going home, shower shave and change then digging them back up again…and keeping track to make sure nobody dies twice? Walk a mile in my shoes if you dare…)

I busted more bent NGOs than anyone I could think of and seem to have genuinely been the originator of the popular online game of “check that charity”. What first drew my interest to the White Helmets is that they were so like my local volunteer fire brigade out in the country in Madaya…

WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL do you think they would go on living in places where you are just as likely to get killed in your bed as at a rescue if they were corrupt? Corrupt people do not “do” early death. WHAT would they spend any misappropriated money on? What kind of power do you think they could wield over helicopters and fighter jets?

Sadly my “eyes” are on their way to Germany right now…a remarkable young man called Khaled, who, with his journalist Hadi, went back in days after a barrel bomb bounced off them causing injuries that were 45% fear, 45% blood and 10% very small scalp wounds. Leaving their apartment detonated a car bomb that gave Hadi a leg he won’t forget in a hurry, but left Khaled with brain damage Turkey cannot treat.

I am far from naive. I used live with a jingoistic foreign office Arabist, four of my long term partners were Arab (two rebels and activists) in fact I used be more familiar with mid eastern politics than European.

The White Helmets are just ordinary people who want to help the “immigration crisis” by keeping innocent civilians alive and basic services running while their own hereditary dictator throws untraceable barrel bombs, explosive hoses, phosphorus and napalm at them.

They are one of the only two NGOs I am willing to give money too. I have shared Ramadan with them this year to help keep me strong, and sober in this terrifying time. (It works)

As for sex worker activism, in context, step one of PR is “keep your public alive”…there are several further steps before anyone has time to think about sex work in Syria.

As a footnote…the young journalist Khaled Al Issa was possibly already dead when I wrote the above…he was 25 years old…the son of former hairdresser Om Khaled, who is a prominent community worker in her own right in Kafranabel.

Yesterday 5 young men of a similar age were killed trying to dodge a double tap strike to get a speading fire under control. It has not been made clear how a former London fire tender in it’s original livery, could be mistaken for a military target of some kind.

The hero’s fund helps the families (limited to parents and siblings in all cases, that is how young they were) of dead heros and supports the wounded, some horribly crippled for life.

The 6 figure sums go into equipment, not just to dig people out of the ground but to reconnect phone lines, power supplies and most of all water mains and sewers. They also have some kind of air evac facility in some areas.

The white helmets run every public service that is still functioning.

Khaled Al Issa has also been accused of just about everything (some quite contradictory) since he died. Russia and the American Right have a full time propaganda machine deployed to tell these stories while Bashr Assad slaughters everyone who does not support him.

Just as an afterthought, or something, I would add a post from my own site entitled:-

Notes for a Novel

The scenes are set in the present, with two partisan sectors, with vastly differing ideas, opinions and motives: both attempting to capture the public’s minds and intentions before a vote, a referendum ballot; finally takes place to determine whether their Country stays within a large group of Nation States: or takes a decision to leave that group forever.

A tiny number of scheming but deeply cynical politicians, of varying political colours but with strongly-held views and ambitions, gather in a smoky room in a Georgian house in Lord North Street: all intent upon one thing and one thing only, to agree on a plan, a single act, which would bring public opinion strongly across towards their viewpoint.

The most cynical man in the group, a former advisor and master-spinner himself, addresses the group seated around the highly-polished table towards the conclusion of their secret debate. No notes were to be kept, all mobile phones had been switched off, batteries ejected, before the conspirators had departed their homes and offices before their separate anonymous journeys to a house which had already been ‘scrubbed’ and tested for electronic and recording devices; for this was one meeting which could not, and would never, be referred to again, once the meeting had concluded its truly terrible purpose. The speaker tapped his pen against the exquisitely-cut and decorated crystal water jug, and the ringing tone sharpened the attentions of the listeners.

“We are agreed, gentlemen, on the proposal which has been discussed. As our plan calls for one, and only one, sacrificial ‘lamb’ for the stewpot, I will now access the names which have been placed in the bowl before us; one candidate from six of the main areas within the Kingdom. All preparations are in place, and the scapegoat ‘patsies’ already seeded and in place, with a formidable team to finally mould his mind, already tormented by his own mental instabilities, once the target has been chosen. The rest of the ‘patsies’ will receive the mental health treatment and medications which those unfortunate people should have received immediately their diagnoses were completed. The back-up evidence; of instability, of threats and of weaponry preparations, are already in place, via the Internet, so we can proceed.” As he finished his sentences, he leant forward, dipped his hand into the bowl, and brought out a single slip of paper, folded over three times. He spoke the name revealed by the paper, and the eldest of the six other men, one who had sat silently for most of the meeting whilst sat around the table flinched, hesitated for maybe five seconds, then slowly nodded his assent to the choice.

The speaker remained standing. “Again, gentlemen, we are agreed, we do this terrible thing, because our opponents are gaining upon us in the race towards the Referendum Vote; we sacrifice this one; so that we might, by inference alone, blame this one death on our opponents: and the fools who follow us will leap upon this tragedy as if it were Manna from Above: and our Colleagues in Brussels, in all the capitals of Europe, will breathe easier because we, above all else, know that might is right!”

You don’t need to worry about the Internet gossip not giving Mair a fair trial – Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama, John Kerry, David Cameron and many others have already done that. The man was arrested a mile away from the scene of the crime and yet not only do they all know he did it, they know why he did it.